Once, any mediocre wrench could turn a boxed kit and VW Beetle into a dune buggy. One can still do that, or take a worn 1991 Eagle Talon and let pure garage talents determine the outcome.

That's the subject of Project Widowmaker, a strip-out-the-heavy-stuff build thread on the Locost US board, whose noble charter involves sharing knowledge on how to build Lotus Seven replicas. Obviously, this one isn't a Se7en, but it does share the same sentiment — low weight, stiff chassis and fun über alles.

The build watchers at Build Threads note the donor car included a brand new 2.3-liter DSM twin-cam stroker, which should be just fine for power once the front-engined, all-wheel-drive buggy reaches its fruition. And by fruition, we hope that means 1g+ on the skid pad, sans dunes.